The Only Ring I Need
by jam821
Summary: Picks up post-Veritas. Kate puts her mother's ring away for the last time.


_Post Veritas (6x22)_

* * *

It's over.

Fifteen years of fighting – for her mother, for her father, for herself, for the truth, for justice – and it's finally over.

She can stand on the sidewalk, spinning in a circle, head thrown back to catch the sunlight, and not worry about getting shot by a sniper.

Or stabbed multiple times.

She's free.

The loft elevator is slowly climbing from the lobby to the top floor. The numbers above the door light up one by one, until a gentle ding breaks the silence, announcing their arrival home.

Home.

She's home and she's free.

Castle drops a kiss on her forehead, lingering for just an instant, and her eyes close in contentment before he begins moving to the front door, tugging her along by their tangled fingers.

He hasn't let her go in days – not since he found her bleeding and half-conscious in the motel hallway – and she's been more than happy to have him by her side through every moment. She'd told him once that she wanted him around when she found the man that had orchestrated the hit, who had told Coonan to kill her mother, and now it's happened.

And he's here just as he promised he would be.

But it's so different than she had always imagined. She thought maybe they would still be partners, still be friends, and they are those things. Still partners at the precinct, best friends in their personal lives, but they are also so much more than that, lovers under the cover of darkness, engaged with a bright future ahead of them.

As he turns the key in the front door, she feels for the cool metal wrapped around her fourth finger, spins the ring round and round while she studies the lines of his face. He's older since they met, a little rougher around the edges, but…

"Beautiful."

Pushing the door open, his confused gaze lands on her face, brows furrowed as he silently asks for clarification, and she realizes she's spoken aloud.

Reaching up to run her fingers along his jaw, cupping his cheek, she rises onto her tiptoes to rest her forehead against his.

"You're so beautiful, Castle."

Both of his hands dip low around her waist, putting pressure against her spine to pull her closer, and she goes. She'll never not go to him.

"Isn't that my line, Kate?"

Chuckling quietly, she drops to her heels, tilting her head back so she can see into his eyes. "Yes, traditionally. But…" Her fingers comb through his hair, pushing it back off his forehead, before tracing the laugh lines beside his eyes. "Just being here, with you, after everything that's happened. You're a beautiful man, Castle, inside and out, and I'm so lucky to be with you."

"Kate." He groans as he tugs her through the front door. Shutting it behind them, he draws her back into his embrace, tucking his thigh between both of hers, aligning their bodies from head to toe. "My defenses are down after this past week. You can't say stuff like that and expect me to hold it together."

"Don't, babe. Don't keep it in. We're home now. We're safe now. It's time to let everything go so we can move on together."

* * *

Standing in the bathroom doorway, he watches her, studies the curves and planes of her body as she moves. She's removing her makeup, washing her face, brushing and flossing her teeth, such mundane tasks and yet she's never been more beautiful.

He almost lost her this week.

He almost lost her _again_ and he doesn't know what he would have done if he'd come back to their motel to find her dead. Tortured and murdered at the hands of Bracken's thugs. He feels the sob lodge in his throat and it takes everything he has to swallow it down. There is no more room, no need for sorrow because she's free now. They both are.

Her eyes catch his in the bathroom mirror and a sweet, perfect smile stretches across her face. "You just gonna stand there all night staring at me?"

Grinning back at her, he can't help the laugh that escapes. Her voice is lighter, steps softer, smile more effortless now that Bracken is behind bars, and he has to taste it, has to feel her relax against him as the weight she's been carrying for fifteen years lifts from her shoulders.

There is no hesitation when he steps up to her, barely touching his lips to hers as he whispers, "I've been staring at you for six years. What makes you think I want to stop now?"

"Good point. Even if it is still creepy."

"But you like creepy. Beckett flavored always leads to the creepy ones."

She scoffs, smacking his arm and pushing him away as she turns back to the sink to finish her bedtime routine, but her smile stays put. Leaning against the counter, he continues to stare despite the half-hearted glare she throws his way.

When she disappears back into their bedroom, he follows, moving to turn down the bed as she changes into her pajamas. He listens to her rustle around, pulling out drawers, tugging on a t-shirt, but, when he spins to sit down on the bed, he sees her rooted in front of their dresser.

"Kate?"

"Castle."

Still facing the dresser, her voice is quiet when she speaks his name, calling him to her side, a call he would never refuse. Getting up, her crosses the room, places a kiss on her cheek when he reaches her, his eyes caught on her every movement.

Extending her hand forward, she traces a finger along the edge of the wooden keepsake box that usually houses her badge, watch, and necklace. The photograph of her parents frozen in a moment of pure joy protects all that is inside.

"Castle, it's time."

"Time for what?"

Pulling her necklace over her head, she reverently pinches Johanna's ring between her thumb and index finger. "Time to let this go." Looking up at him, her eyes are clear, her expression calm. "I've been wearing her ring for fifteen years. A constant reminder of her murder hanging around my neck but I don't need it anymore."

"But Kate -"

Holding the ring between them, she shakes her head, interrupting him. "No, Castle. Don't you see? This is my past. This ring doesn't represent her, doesn't remind me of the amazing woman she was before _he_ took her from me. All I see when I look at it is her body, lying broken and cold in that alleyway."

His heart breaks for her, for the young girl who lost her mother decades before she should have, forced to grow up too quickly under the pressure of her father's alcoholism, and, despite that, still blossomed into this incredible woman. She's fiercely protected her heart for so long, never letting anyone close enough to see just how precious she is, and he's honored to be the one she shares herself with now.

Kate continues, shrugging as she looks up at him, "But I look in the mirror every day and I see her in my features. I see her smile…her passion and tenacity. She lives on through me."

He's speechless as he stands before her, watching her cheeks shade pink with the apparent effort of sorting her thoughts into words, but then she lifts her left hand, stretching out her fingers so her engagement ring sparkles in the soft lighting of the room. "But this… Castle, this is my future. _You_ are my future and this is the only ring I need."

She turns from him, kissing her mother's ring once, before gently placing it in the box. Closing the lid, she traces the edge of Johanna's smiling face, whispering, "I love you, Mom," and then she spins around, coiling her arms around his neck as she surges up to kiss him.

He holds her tight, both palms pressing against the base of her spine to keep her close as he speaks. "I love you, Kate. I've never been prouder of you than I was this week, than I am now."

"Thank you for being here, for staying by my side all this time, for saving me from myself. For giving me back my life and my future. For everything."

"Always, Kate. Always."

* * *

_Rob Hanning tweeted that, due to time constraints, they had to cut a scene at the end of the episode where Kate puts her mother's ring away for good. I couldn't get the image out of my head so here it is. :)_


End file.
